Can these bones live?

Recently my wife and I were house hunting in New York, just a little outside of the city, which was just a temporary endeavor but was quite fun. What kind of house would we be looking for...smaller, larger, newer, older, fixer-upper, or all done nice and pretty? We soon stumbled upon a 100 year old place that was on the verge of being torn down, but had tons of character that we envisioned to  affectionately naming her "Spook Rock Manor". (Partially due to the road that it cornered).

I definitely am the vision guy. Beyond the falling off screen door, peeling paint, overgrown everything and torn-out kitchen, I saw a diamond. Now sure there would be work...lots of work starting first at the foundation. But there was a place, a home, that would be amazing...revealing 4 stone fireplaces, 100+year old wood flooring and molding that didn't seem to be less that 7"tall everywhere. But first...you had to get past years of neglect. That...would be a daunting task.

The word I LOVE is visioneering. Andy Stanley has said that visioneering is “a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be." It's a preferred future, a destination...its where we are going....what we are working towards.  Its like how Ezekiel, when asked in Chap. 37, "son of man, can these bones live?"...and then in obedience began to speak out what as the Lord directed him. 

This is what we need....Spirit inspired and directed visionaries that see beyond the years of neglect with crumbling foundations...to begin to rebuild that which barely has life remaining in it....or is like Ezekiel's Valley of Dry Bones. Presently dead and dry....but potentially full of life!

Speak HOLY SPIRIT LIFE into your marriage, family, CHURCH, ministry...and see God do something amazing! He can! The mission can not be optional...lives are on the line!

Just like my beloved "Spook Rock Manor"...the visioneering combined with some strategic engineering can produce a beautiful home that would be a inspiration for generations to come. But restoring a home...is nowhere as important  as our next step to the question..."can these bones live".

Drifting VS Anchored

For me sadly, I believe this fishing season has come to an end. My yacht has been tucked away for 2 months now, ok... its not really a yacht, its really a baby yacht....actually its a 42 year old 16ft aluminum boat with a 43 year old 25hp Johnson motor. Its more like a old dinghy actually...but thats not really the point. Its a fishing boat...that somehow does not catch fish with me as Captain. Again, thats not the point.

If you have ever fished in the ocean or bay, you will understand that to catch different kinds of fish either requires being anchored or drifting. Being anchored holds you to a specific spot with a anchor holding fast to the ocean bottom. Drifting however, moves the boat along by the direction of the wind and ocean current, you don't necessarily sense yourself moving, you just do and after awhile you are someplace entirely different. Smart fisherman though will be constantly aware of the direction and speed of the drift, as this will affect whether or not you in fact catch fish, but more importantly you could quickly get yourself into trouble and the boat could sink, and a on a really bad day you will drown.

For my entire life our family has been acquainted with the ocean, and as a child we were always at the beach and had several boats, and so...know a little about drifting vs being anchored.

What perked my attention was remembering being at the beach, and if you are from Jersey, you are well acquainted with the green and red flags designating the appropriate swim areas. Over the years, we have on many occasions been swimming in the ocean playing with the kids, and even as kids, only to find ourselves after a few mins way down the beach kinda looking lost amongst the sea of beach umbrellas. If you have been to the beach, you know the importance of being careful of the effects of the current which can take you far from where you first started. Drifting is what happens to us either intentionally, or unintentionally but just brings us along with the flow of the current and not keeping your eyes fixed on a immovable fixture.

Heres a question that has been on my heart. Am I DRIFTING or ANCHORED in my relationship with God? 

It's easy to drift in my relationship with God, we just go along with our schedule as usual, responding to the needs of life as they arise, and before we realize it...we are far from God. We never felt it, set out to accomplish it, but also never set out to not DRIFT. you see in order to NOT drift, we must be ANCHORED, or have our eyes fixed to a immovable object that does not move. Drifting happens to the best of us, and unfortunately churches are filled with spiritual drifters which produces whole Churches that are adrift...lost focus and passion, which horribly means...the true LOST in our communities do not find Christ.

Being ANCHORED in God is something entirely different than drifting. Anchored is where the Word is holding us fast to a specific belief, position, posture, focus. Anchored requires a intentional effort that holds us secure. Maybe it is our daily quiet time with the Lord, frequent personal worship that recenters our heart to be molded in His hands. 

While this thought is not yet complete...I pray that my life will be anchored in the present life changing personal relationship with Christ.

The 2014 Marriage Renewal

Over the past few weeks, I've become increasingly aware to the stress that exists in the marriage relationships of my friends. One has mentioned divorce, one is in deep apathy, one is dealing with unmet needs and young kids and two others are something different. So I began to ponder with my ponderer...what can be done? Well certainly we must do something, because relationships in stress can cause terrible damage to the point of calling it quits, or after 40 years you don't even know each other anymore. As Steven Covey so famously said "Begin with the end in mind". In other words, what kind of relationship do you want to end up with...so lets work to get there.

I believe the Lord began to give me some direction. Let's start with me. No, let's start with me...like how much I pray for and nurture my wife? How am I progressing as #1 a Child of God, and then Husband and Father. But how am I as a friend to my married male friends? Am I a encourager, support, listener and at times counsellor? Or just another friend my friends complain to about whats wrong with their spouses. So...it begins with my heart, my seeking, and what I'm doing to see that I'm going in the right direction. I guess it's like "search me oh God and see if there be any wicked way in me".

After I get a good clear sense of my own inadequacies, I'll move on to phase 2, gathering a coalition of men to join me on this Marriage Renewal journey in 2014. What I'm seeing right now, is monthly relationship focuses for 8 months with a few strategic retreats, dates and relationship building events thrown in.

Oh Lord, make 2014 the best year so far, but only to be outdone by each one following. And Jesus....thank you for my wife, without her I am incomplete.

PS..Today marks my parents 49th wedding anniversary, my mom however will be celebrating it in Heaven.

Seeking

This is a amazing weekend with moving in the Holy Spirit, seeing students and leaders lives changed. This morning though I feel God speaking to me personally.

It seems as though I may have treated The Lord like I do a tool. A tool you say? Sure a tool. I'm kind of a tool junkie. A few years back I discovered the right tool makes a job go easier, more efficiently...or in some cases, you can't even do a job/project without the right tool. So I have endeavored in order to not waste time, to assemble a small arsenal of the right tools to accplish a particular project, my most recent addition being a Ramseg Gun which shoots nails in concrete with a 22 cal. shell. Sure...it's fun to use.

Today the Holy Spirit is speaking to me that may treat The Lord like I do a tool. Meaning....seeking Him for what I need from Him, versus seeking Him just for Him. Isaiah says, "Seek The Lord". I sure have been guilty of looking for a tool because of what I new to get done, but that may not be the pattern to follow with The Lord. He's calling me to seek Him for  Him, not for anything I need from Him or to do for me...just for his presence.

How about you....what do you seek and for why purpose?

Desperate...

Lord I need you today...hungry for your presence, for your word to be alive in my life and heart. Lord I am desperate for you, where else can I go? I want to sit at your feet today and learn from you. Speak to me today in my comings and goings...speak vision, direction, discernment, bathe me in your anointing. Use me today Lord to be your hands and feet. Bless my family today, watch over them.

Follow

The Lord was speaking to me this morning about what He said. It was in Matthew 4 when Jesus was calling some Disciples, and He called to them with this phrase "Come, follow me..." Well it was the come follow me part that got me thinking. Today is my daughters 21st birthday, and it seems like yesterday that as little kids they would follow us wherever we were going, and even a trip to Home Depot could be a fun event. But as we ge older...we want to know ALL the details, when, where, how long, and as a teenager the all important "who else is going". But what Jesus was speaking to me was, His calling me maybe not about the destination, or even the vocation, or any else of the details that could bog us down, but just "come follow me". It's Jesus that is doing the calling, and as a child, maybe all the things I think about now as a adult, like schedule, convenience, practicality...the list could go on, isn't what Jesus is even talking about. Just "Come". 

Question: Do I have faith as a child, or a childlike faith? Are my concerns similar to those of the one guy who wanted some time to bury a family member? If it's Jesus that is doing the calling...what really else matters?

I am certain of this. I hear the masters voice in my heart calling me to Him, and this journey could get quite interesting.

2. EXCITED CHURCH: Clear the Roadblocks

In Acts 15 the matter of requiring the newly saved Gentiles to be circumcised has reached the Council at Jerusalem for a decision. Barnabas and Paul reported to the Council how these new believers had received the infilling of Holy Spirit, the miracles that had took place in their midst…and that some were requiring them to be circumcised as adults…in order to even be saved. This event, could easily be considered a “roadblock” to the unity and growth of the church, it became abundantly obvious that this was something that needed to be dealt with if the church was to continue to grow among the Gentiles.

It’s amazing at times how we can be oblivious to or ignore the much needed decisions that need to be made, some of them simple, that would keep the church growing, reaching and even less frustrating. On some occasions they can even be our own rules or past patterns that have grown out of date and ineffective.

In Verne Harnish’s article he points out that that question of how to motivate employees (church) could be in fact the wrong question. The right question is “How do I stop demotivating them?” Ask what are the processes and obstacles in their way from being more effective. Long pointless meetings, no vision, poorly staffed nursery, not enough budget, church culture counter effective to reaching the community, incompetence, etc. could be some issues. Staff, leaders and pre-leaders often will be able to point out the sometimes simple changes needed to promote better, greater, more effective growth or morale. In other words…one of the roles of leaders is to “clear the roadblocks”.

1. EXCITED CHURCH: Give Them A Voice

I've found that churches, staffs, companies...actually a lot of entities begin to atrophy when there becomes a stagnation of new ideas and implementation. Maybe we sometimes feel as though we have reached our pinnacle, or there is a bottleneck near the top preventing growth, or, we simple have lost our vision of what we are doing and why. Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hotels found the company on the verge of failure, embarked on a new endeavor to involve everyone at all levels during a series of specially designed retreats to get ideas and buy in of how things could be turned around. After a renewed 250 million in new sales Conley said, "The more you give people a voice, the more they step up".

Its simply amazing how we in the church can stick with the same ways, when its abundantly clear we are not growing, reaching, discipling and winning...wining people passionately to be passionate followers of Christ. If a hotel fails, so what. If the Church does not reach her potential and continue to grow...people fail to hear the message Christ died for and commissioned us to deliver. 

I heard someone say once, that God has given each church what it needs to be successful. Maybe...vision isn't up to just one person...maybe God has placed dreams, passions, new ministries, giftings, callings into a lot of people...maybe we just haven't listened. So I say, Give the Church A Voice. Let Pastors, leaders, staff, pre-leaders all have the opportunity to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit to see the Church be exactly what it should be in the community it has been placed. To be Light...in a dark world...bringing and proclaiming freedom for those in captivity and sight to the blind.

An EXCITED Church

I've long said, the Church is the most important business on Earth. While some may be uncomfortable thinking this way, consider this...The Church is in the business of seeing the LOST FOUND and CHRIST KNOWN to all. Verne Harnish, CEO of a executive education firm recently wrote a piece for Fortune magazine entitled "Five Ways to Keep Employees Excited" and I began thinking of the application to church teams, leadership and those in pre-leadership (attenders). 1. GIVE THEM A VOICE, 2. CLEAR THE ROADBLOCKS, 3. GROW BETTER BOSSES, 4 TAKE A BREAK FROM AUSTERITY, and 5. MAKE THEIR DREAMS REAL. My plan over the next few days is to briefly put a church perspective on some basic business advice.

* PS. This is my re-entry to this blog, from the hiatus of attending to my parents during the final few months of my Mom's battle with cancer.

Beauty...

Just 2 short days ago, my wife of 23 3/4 years married and the Mother of three very cool children turned...50. I'm not sure how it happened but it's true that she has mastered the art of ever-increasing beauty. There is the obvious physical beauty that she has somehow managed to increase and perfect, but also the beauty of friendship, Gods presence, wisdom, companionship, joy, dedication just to name a few. What I am impressed with, is how she wields the power she has as an anointed woman of God. I truly am blessed and better just because of the person God has molded her to be. It seems as though God has created her to be who I need her to be to be who I am created to be. While that last thought may seem a little me-focused and really not the point of this musing, I just wonder if that's how God works in all our lives? He creates beauty...so that others can be better by experiencing the beauty that HE created.
Well back to her 50th Birthday. She is indeed amazing how she carries that milestone, not with any regret of missed opportunities or with frustration of the thought of getting "older", but of HOPE, EXPECTATION that this coming year is going to be a year of tremendous "Destiny". May you Michele fulfill all your dreams and aspirations...for God has certainly set you aside as a special creation.

I see clouds on the horizon...it may rain.

While none of this may not make sense with out perspective, it needs to be said first, than later clarified. I believe...positioning is taking place, a stirring is happening, revelation is occurring, and the present is indicative of the future. I want to say that...I am preparing to enter the war for men's souls, that a sweeping of God's Spirit coming, that preparation and positioning are necessary, and that I am confident that I will experience a powerful flowing of His anointing.

Wisdom calls out...

The past few days have been quite inspirational leadership wise. Last week was in a Leadership Roundtable on Long Island discussing innovative church planting and administration, this past weekend reconnected with the fruit of Michele and I's labor from 18 years ago at a church's 100 year anniversary on Sunday, and today...heard from Dr. George Wood about Spiritual Leadership. In other words, it's easy to say that WISDOM can be found where ever we turn, so Proverbs 8 is quite true.

I've always been a fan of working with, and as a team. I think the days of, what I'll call, "Lone Ranger Vision", should be done with. Enough of one person holding hostage of what God wants to, or can't do. Dr. Wood made an interesting comment in passing regarding the apostle Paul. He said that he had worked with 91 people in the building and establishing of the Church, and even Jesus brought worked with a few...but what did he know. Great Coaches understand that its their responsibility and calling to get people on the field to work together, they are not there to hog all the attention.

During my trip down memory lane this past weekend I saw the fruit of this team mindset. The team...is STILL paying dividends! Although we may all not be together anymore, stuff is still going on! I wonder if the Disciples realized this way back when...I wonder if we realize that that what we do today, isn't just for today, but for tomorrow.  We discussed that latter thought last week in the Leadership Roundtable regarding innovative and traditional thinking churches. Our focus is not just about today. Our focus is all about how what we do today, will bear fruit tomorrow in its due season.

I see the future differently now that I can look back and see the past. Wisdom calls out...so that we can have the strength and understanding that our lives are really building a legacy.

Smart vs. Great and the Church

 “Smart companies respond to the users. Great ones lead the way by changing how users think.” Ge Wang, Associate Professor of Stanford University speaking of Apple and the work of Steve Jobs

When I read that quote last week in USA Today, I was immediately struck at the absence of what happens when "smart" and "great" are not employed. Professor Wang delineates smart and great to highlight the innovation of Apple and Steve Jobs, but how would we refer to an entity that does not respond to the changing climate of cultural interests or demands? Corporate America indeed survives and falls according to market share, so what is the label for those companies or entity's that don’t respond to the users and find themselves…irrelevant? Surely the Apple/Jobs story is an important lesson, as Apple has recently battled Exxon/Mobil as the worlds most valuable company, and at this time, seems poised to continue that trend. 

Can we indeed LIVE without oil and an ipod? Some may say no, and certainly in a lot of the world we would have to say, yes, we can LIVE without oil and ipods...or even a new iphone with which we could buy oil right from the phone. So if Apple and the Steve Jobs legacy is remembered correctly...they consistently dreamed of how best their product would be implemented into the lives of it's users. They somehow presented their products in a light that people would be drawn to them, and then soon discovered they could not LIVE without them.

Hmmmm. Question. If I can LIVE without oil and and ipod, can I LIVE without God? John 12:32 says "If I be lifted up I will draw all men..." So, if the Church lifts Jesus up in a way that the "users" understand presented in their own language and culture, we may see a whole lot more find faith in Christ the pursuit that they will abandon all other pursuits for. The answer per say to a problem I didn't even know I had. Smart and Great are important words here.

I'll finish this uncompleted thought with this observation. Nobody....NO ONE, no company, no global entity should put forth more effort, creativity and passion into communicating it's message to the masses than the Church. We ALONE carry the only can't live without message/product that we can NEVER be satisfied in communicating with excellence and anointing. After all, I can LIVE without the iphone4s, but I am LOST without Christ.

Stirred...

Something is brewing internally, deep in my heart, causing a reverent fear of the Lord and deeper seeking of wisdom. Concisely stated, I am "stirred".

An interesting personal revelation is that I never "stir" my coffee. For several years now I drink it black with two Equals...but I always put the sweetener in the cup before pouring it from the French Press. And when I'm in Starbucks? Well I think I just add it afterwards and let gravity and motion do the trick naturally. But when adding chlorine or shock to the pool, it always gets "stirred". Even before vacuuming the pool, it gets stirred so as to create a nice neat pile in the middle on the bottom. I do shake paint cans but not stir them, sauce gets stirred to prevent burning, and of course 007 famously preferred "shaken but not stirred". But me? I'm stirred. Somethings brewing, somethings up, I feel it sense it and am moving into great expectation.

John 5 tells the story of the paralytic man who was unable to get into the pool while it was still "stirred". Apparently and angel of the Lord would come down at certain seasons and stirred the water, and afterwards whomever made it into the water was immediately healed!
I think...God may be stirring my heart for something. Is it healing, restoration, wholeness, preparation...the effect I am not sure of, but am confident that there is a REASON for the stirring, and I do believe I know who is DOING the stirring.

Wisdom’s benefits seem to be quite far reaching. With promises of a long life, a good name, riches, honor, prosperity, straight paths and sweet sleep…the search for and the application of wisdom to my life should be a no-brainer. After all, I’ve been frustrated by poverty lately and certainly have not experienced sweet sleep in quite some time. In fact, my sleep is occasionally and sometime regularly disturbed by worry, regret and mostly frustration in general. I LONG…I L-O-N-G, mean I deeply desire and l-o-n-g for the day that sweet sleep arrives to accompany all the other benefits of discernment.
Oh Lord, give me "wisdom" in all arreas of my life, relationships, finances, thoughts, actions, in all areas Lord. Leave no area unaffected.

Proverbs 3:1 “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.”